Evictions stink. They stink for the tenant, stink for the owner, stink for me. I've had a tota of 3 "physical evictions" in my nearly 5 years here in Florida, and I remember each one of them as if they were yesterday. Anyone who thinks there's joy to be found in placing folks' belongings on the curb is sadly mistaken- but it's a reality and responsibility of the cuprent profession I've chosen. br> That said, when a tenant fails to pay rent by the end of the 4th day of a month, I generate and deliver a 3-day statutory notice- commonly known as a "pay and stay" for it allows the tenants said 3 day period to do just that. Most do.

When tenants still don't pay, the next step is for the attorney to file the eviction, with owner's approval. A judge will issue a summons and give the tenants 5 days to respond to it. If they fail to answer the summons, our attorney may then file a motion for default, which is all but automatic in being granted.

The judge will grant the default motion and issue a writ of possession that's forwarded to that particular county's sheriff's department. When ready to serve the writ, a deputy will call me and set atime to meet at the property- where he will enter and be present to keep the peace as I re-gain possession of the property on the owner's behalf. At that time, all property remaining in the vacated home must be carried to the property line or curb.

The entire eviction process time frame varies from county to county. In Orange County here, the time's between 30 and 45 days. In Lake County, I had an eviction done in 25 days. The sooner the better- and the sooner a sad end can transition towards better days.

I'll update this soon and incude information about costs- and about how Legends Realty and our Eviction Protection Program pays the first $700 of eviction costsshould a tenant we place be forced out!

Fortunately, in Virginia, I have in my management agreement that I can start the eviction process - serve the notice, file the eviction/UD, go to court for the "return date" and get a trial date where my attorney appears...it RARELY gets to this point; however. I can remove residents within 4 weeks if I catch the filing dates correctly.

I did one in Orange County in May that I walked through the courts and sheriff offices myself. My first eviction in several years. Filed eviction May 1 and met with the sheriff on May 12. I was surprised how quickly it happened and so was the tenant.

Hi, Wallace: Thank you for dropping by, and for your comment. It's also in our agreements that I CAN initiate the eviction and march things through when I deem necessary. Other than the fact that the owner is officially the plaintiff in the processes, there's no involvement in the process on anyone else's part. It's amazing how slippery a slope "evictions" can become as well. Without a solid, consistent brokerage policy in effect, there's always the exposure that one looking to game the system can play the B. Hussein Obama "It's not FAIR that I got evicted and they didn't" cards...

Hi, Rob: Where were you Thursday? Ha... That's remarkably fast turnaround- even beating my Lake case where the deputy served my tenant the same day the case was filed. Funny thing? It was on April 1st, and the tenant thought it was "a joke". Joke was on her non-paying self when her stuff was on the curb te next day. She was at work I guess, but in such disbelief that at the time I met the sheriff her checkbook, debit card and tons of stuff were on her bed in the Master like she'd just left for the day. Oops...!

Hi again, Rob: Thank you for the feature. Added exposure here is good- as as you well know, the courts here are in the red again and OC's Lydia Gardiner recently said she's going to push evictions and other civil actions aside somewhat in favor of criminal cases due to lack of funds. Processing times and the total time frame required to effect an evicton HAS to be a big part of the discussion when speaking with an owner for the "evict/don't evict" questions.

Hi, Sussie: Thank you for dropping by, and for your comment. Pretty good analogy on your part, I suppose- though it's pretty danged hard to even see the apple! When the best thing about an eviction is its' completion, there's hardly cause for rejoicing. Owner loses money from rent, I lose money from a percentage of collected rents, tenant becomes "former tenant" once their days of being "Unknown tenant in possession" end.

Good thing down here in general is the speed, though- lightning fast versus Alabama evictions I had to handle. There, it's actually the sheriff's deputies (typically a squad of 2-4, badges and all) that carry out the eviction and put the tenants' stuff on the curb. Owner has to pay $40-$50/hr for each deputy. Lack of folks on that detail would often have an eviction take 4 months.

25-45 days is no fun to deal with an eviction down here, but folks can't imagine what it's like to manage a place for 4 months (for free) while a hostile soon-to-be former tenant pretty much laughs at you. As I mentioned in another video, owners obligation to maintain premises and the tenants' obligation to pay rent are mutually exclusive- which leads to a hostile owner that doesn't want to fix things for a tenant on their way out.

Over the years, I've discovered this truth, though: the folks that do the best job in screening their applicants are the ones who have the least amount of evictions to deal with. I've had 3 in the last 5 years- and for the most part, I'd attribute that to thorough screening practices.

Additional Information

Disclaimer: Trulia, Inc. does not necessarily endorse the real estate agents, loan officers and brokers listed on this site. These real estate profiles, blogs and blog entries are provided here as a courtesy to our visitors to help them make an informed decision when buying or selling a house. Trulia, Inc. takes no responsibility for the content in these profiles, that are written by the members of this community.